FRANCE: Beaujolais demo prompts president to quit

The Union Interprofessionelle des Vins du Beaujolais (UIVB) has been thrown into turmoil with the resignation of its president, Ghislain de Longevialle and general secretary, Denis Chastel-Sauzet, following a demonstration by growers in Villefranche-sur-Saône yesterday (23 August).

The growers, who numbered around 800, were protesting against the wine trade federation's proposal to reduce authorised yields from 57 hectolitres/ha to 52 hl/ha as a means of lowering significantly high stock levels.

De Longevialle was elected president in spring 2004 and re-elected in May this year.

Under the auspices of the local state administration authority, mediation will now take place between the UIVB and the protesting growers in an attempt to resolve the situation before the harvest gets underway.

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